Benefits of Rice Cookers and
Food Steamers

Electronic rice cooker or also known as "rice maker" is a kitchen
countertop appliance that takes the guess work out of making perfect
rice each and every time. Many people have difficulty
cooking rice on the stove because the burner cannot be turned down to a
low enough simmer for the steaming portion of cooking rice. This
normally results in the rice being scorched or burned. With our rice
cookers, rice will be fluffy and delicious. Plus, you won't have to
stand over the stove while it cooks. Just set it and leave it.
Some models can do a lot more than just cook
rice; they are combined with a steamer which also can be use to steam
vegetables, pilafs, risottos, polenta, chili's, soups, porridges, cook
white and brown rice recipes,
puddings and more automatically.

Picking the Right Rice Cooker
Warmer and Steamer

We carry the best rice
cookers and steamersfrom Zojirushi, Aroma, Sanyo,
Panasonic, Tiger, and Sunpentown
plus more of most popular brands and models available with
many different features to suit everyone's needs,
the best rice cooker price
ranging from $20 to over $300. The basic models of electric rice cookers
are the conventional electric cookers. These simply heat up to cook the
rice, turns off when it's done and keeps the rice warm. The more
advanced family of rice cookers is the micro computerized rice cookers.These rice cookers
utilize microcomputer chip technology and are programmed to change the
heat and cooking time to the type and style of rice being cooked.
Because of the microcomputer chip, it cooks brown rice and rice porridge
without overflowing or overcooking. The next family of rice cookers is
the IH (Induction Heating) rice maker, which utilize advanced
induction heating technology to heat the entire inner cooking pan, in
effect making the cooking pan itself the heating element. Because of its
quicker response time, IH rice cookers can adjust the heating
temperature and time quicker for better tasting rice. Once you have determined your price range,
you will need to think about your storage space, how often and what
kinds of rice you will be cooking, and will you be using the additional
features.

How to determine which rice
cookware is right for you and your family?

It depends on what you're
looking for in a rice maker. Will you be cooking brown rice? Porridge?
Do you need a automated timer function to ensure your rice is ready when
you get home from work or wake up in the morning? If you don't need all
those features, a non-micro-computerized conventional rice cooker is the
right one for you. If you are looking for something more sophisticated,
Micom or even an IH rice cooker would be the smart choice with its brown
rice and porridge functions, reheating cycle, timer and other features.

Size

A 3 cup rice cooker is best
suited for singles, couples and small families of around four or
less people. 5 cup rice cooker can easily feed around 4 to 7
people at once although if you’re feeding 7 people or more, its
better to get a 8 cup or 10 cup rice cooker. A good rule of
thumb, its safer to choose rice makers that will have at least
one cup capacity for each individual served.

Look at the storage and counter
space available in your kitchen. If you are short on space, go
for a more compact model.

Features

If you want your rice cooker to multitask. Some rice cookers
have an attachable steam basket so you can cook vegetables, buns
and dumplings. Some have a brown rice cooker setting.

Time

Some rice cookware's can be
programmed to turn on at a set time. It enables you to add rice
and water in the morning and program the cooker to have the rice
ready at dinner time. You may also want a "quick-cook" mode or a
cooker that will keep rice warm once it is cooked rather than
turning off, allowing more flexibility in cooking time.

The History of Electric Rice Cookers
and How They Work?

Dedicated rice cookers date from long ago in human history.
A ceramic rice steamer
dated to 1250 BC is on display in the British Museum in London, England. Before the electric rice
maker was invented, rice was cooked on a kamado, a large stove built in a corner of the kitchen. To boil rice on a kamado, first a fire is started using firewood. Next, a pot containing the rice and water is placed over the fire. The taste of the rice depends on the strength of the heat used to cook it, but controlling the fire in a kamado is tricky. Cooking rice used to be quite a chore; one would have to watch over the fire from early in the morning in the smoky air.

The development of electric rice cookers began in the Taisho era (1912-1926), but it wasn't until 1955 that the first automatic rice cooker for household use went on sale in Japan.
Toshiba was the company that made this cooker which spent five years developing it.
By creating a system which they called "double-pot indirect cooking" by
heating a cup of water
which is poured into the outer pot, and the machine to turn off once all
the water has evaporated signaling the rice was ready. It
absorbs a great deal of water in the process, expanding its volume and
using up the cooking water. The moisture and heat gelate and soften the
starch granules in the rice. The cooking time for raw rice ranges from
about 15 minutes up to an hour, depending upon type such as either white or brown along with the freshness of
rice, and desired cooked results,

In 1960, the first rice cookers that could
keep rice warm after it was cooked went on sale, as did some models with
timers. With such advancements the kamado
disappeared from homes, there became less housework to do, and the lives
of Japanese homemakers had changed tremendously. As manufacturers
produced better and better electric rice makers, these appliances
quickly became a household fixture.

In 1979 in effort to make
rice taste delicious manufactures introduced micro-computerized
controlled rice cookers in which are program to change the temperature
and cooking time to the type of rice being cooked all controlled by a
micro computer chip.

The next big turning point for electric
rice cookers came in 1988, when home appliance maker Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co. currently known as Panasonic Corporation, a longtime leader in the development of rice cookers,
created the first induction heating (IH) rice cooker in hope of making
electric cookers better then gas ones. This utilizes advanced induction
heating technology to heat the entire inner cooking pan by having an
electric current passed through coils around the pot, in effect making
the cooking pan itself the heating element. Because of its quicker
response time, IH rice cookers can adjust the heating temperature and
time quicker for better tasting rice. Unlike other types of cookers
there's no need to pre-soak the rice in water before cooking it. All you
need to do is add the right amount of water using the lines inside the
inner cooking pot.

In 2003, Panasonic
developed a high-temperature-steam induction heating cooker that brings
out the sweetness and aroma of rice by using very hot steam at 130
degrees Celsius (266 degrees Fahrenheit). Other technologies developed
by manufacturers include pressurizing the rice with the steam that's
generated during cooking, which gives the rice a stickier, fuller
consistency, and applying ultrasonic vibration to help the rice absorb
water better. There seems to be no end to the race to develop better and
better rice makers.

The quest for better taste continues today, and various manufacturers
keep coming out with new models.
Electric rice cookers can now do many things besides cooking rice. With
a rice cooker, it's easy to make cakes and breads, stewed dishes like
beef stew, and steamed dishes like dumplings. There are even cookbooks
full of recipes that use the rice maker. Rice cookers have grown into
versatile cooking devices.